The Plane Ride From..... he *double toothpicks*

Oh my goodness I had visions of a much different airport experience! Let me tell you about them. On our first trip we were in the airport for our return flight and I saw this woman with a little boy in a stroller and another young woman talking to her and asking all kinds of questions. You could tell one was bringing her new son home and one had been on a first referral trip. I thought to myself, "Soon Jackie it will be your turn to have the little one in a stroller and someone will be asking you many questions."

Flash forward to our third trip. Chris and the boys left me with all the carry on luggage and our little guy, so they could grab something quick to eat. I thought it would be wise to feed ds3, since it really was his lunch time. So I grabbed a favorite baby food jar and started to try to feed him. Simple right? WRONG! Seems the one I picked wasn't what he wanted and he started to scream and cry! A LOT! And nothing I did would console him. He wanted to go anywhere, but we had to stay with our luggage so he couldn't walk where he wanted to. So, he screamed and cried all the harder! My nice vision of "One day it will be my turn", turned into "Oh my gosh, look at that poor new adoptive mother and her toddler having a fit!" Stay away!

Needless to say it wasn't a good prelude to our plane flight. Someone was very fussy before we even took off and would pitch a fit faster than you can say it! I really think he was dealing with an upset stomach or gas. So midway through the flight, the child has hardly slept a wink and it's like way past his bedtime and no nap. We try to get him to lay down and again he will have none of it and is just crying his head off. Then he proceeds to throw up, all over himself and a bit on me. Fun! Fun! I knew he wasn't feeling that well.... I held him in my arms most of the trip (and he was content) while many other little ones screamed and cried the entire time. We've flown this trip three times and this by far was the worst, and not just because we had our own little toddler who we were trying to take care of. Seems like just about every child was upset. One woman in the back of the plane had two airplane pillows strapped to each side of her head to keep the crying baby noise out. lol! (I laugh when I think of that image.)

Our son finally feel asleep about 2 hours before we landed and he was out even for the landing! Here are some photos of everyone sleeping at different times. Ds1 didn't sleep a wink until we got to immigration, and he picked a spot on the floor. Poor guy!

We were the last people off the plane and the last to retrieve our luggage. Our two older boys did fantastic on the entire flight! Really really well. We had so many compliments on them and their manners. They pretty much entertained each other while mom and dad took care of little bro. The only bad thing is that the boys were so tired and we were kind of rushed, even with being the last ones, that they left a CD case with all their DVDs and Wii games on the plane. Chris drove to the airport today, after a call was fruitless, to see if he could locate it in the lost and found. Unfortunately it was not there. The plane went onto the West Coast after our flight, so hopefully someone will find it there. Please pray that they find it! The boys feel so bad, and we do too! We should have double checked their seating area too....

So, that was our flight experience. Way different than I imagined it would be in my idealistic mind. I think it was one of the hardest parts of the process! Here is a picture of our son all smiles as his feet finally hit the ground in the USA! He is officially an American Citizen when his feet hit the ground. (Of course we didn't know we couldn't take photos in that area of the airport. I have no idea why, but we had someone yelling at us to stop taking pictures, they weren't allowed. Sheesh! There were no signs that we saw, so we apologized and said we had no idea! I'm surprised they didn't take the camera. ) lol!

There's No Place Like Home!

We are home!! Oh it felt great to sleep in our comfy beds last night! Ds3 slept in a comfy pack n play next to the bed until he gets familiar with his own crib. It was a good thing to, as he woke up several times during the night. Just slightly enough to want to be reassured by our voices, and then back to sleep he went.

This morning he woke up a little earlier than we would have liked, so we pulled him into bed with us. So sweet, he slept a little longer between his mamma and papa. Thank you Lord!

We videotaped him walking down the hall and into his room for the first time. He was so excited! Under his changing table are some toys and he was so cute ooohhhing and ahhhing over them. We are purposefully keeping the playroom off limits for at least today, so it isn't completely overwhelming for him. There are a LOT of things in that playroom!

One thing we quickly became aware of... we are sooo not baby proofed yet! Just watching him walk down those stairs was enough to make me nervous! We'll be heading to Babies 'R Us today to get the good cabinet locks and another stair gate, plus a few more safety door features. If there is one thing about us is we certainly try to be baby safe!

He's eating his breakfast right now with daddy. Eggs, toast and perhaps a banana. Yum! Yum! Our friends gave us a toddler seat that is kind of on the go, and that should suffice for a few days! Really, the child is just so happy to eat his food!

So, it feels good to be home! Chris took off until Monday so that we could all get adjusted together. I am so grateful he did that! The next few days will be filled with our finding a new routine in our lives. I'm glad we have a little while all together to get adjusted. :-)

I'll try to download photos and maybe a video of him checking out his new room. Try being the operative word..... :-)

Later,
Jackie

It's all good.....

This is just a quick post to share that we got our ds3's visa today! Woohoo!!! We had our appointment at the Embassy to get this done, and it's the final leg of the adoption journey for us. (Other than the flight home!)

I won't go into details until we return home, but if you knew the mountains God moved to get this done.... nothing short of amazing! The other couple with us had their little daughter's visa processed today as well, and so they too can testify to the mountains that were moved!

All I can say is Thank you Lord! We are headed home tomorrow and we are all ready! Tonight we're going to be packing and getting ready for our l-o-n-g flight. Can't wait to set foot back in the good ol' USA!

Seeing the Sights!

It's been a busy two days here! Our little ds3 is surprisingly taking it all in stride! Yesterday we toured the metro system. It is full of beautiful architecture... mainly the early metro lines. The ones built during the 70's are typical of the political era they came out of.

Anyway, my boys had seen the metro on the Internet several months ago, and so wanted to see it! So we set up a tour of the metro system.... Let me tell you, it is not easy to navigate Moscow's metro system with a toddler and a stroller. Not at all!! We visited 8 different stations, with many line changes as well. Talk about difficult! Up and down huge escalators and stairs, and in and out of the stroller... not to mention all the people! Ds3 did fabulous, and definitely just went with the flow. Like I said the architecture is beautiful. There were so many intricate mosaics crafted and set in ornate moldings on the ceilings. Gorgeous! Plus many bronze and granite statues. It's hard to believe it's a metro system at all! I think it was definitely worth it to do this with the boys. Here are some photos of a few stations:

We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe on the way home (3 hours later) and stumbled upon their kid's buffet. Yay! Ds3 was quickly changed and set in a high chair to start devouring his lunch. The big kids went to jump in the little jumping castle and partake in the kids buffet. Then they drew pictures of St. Basil's cathedral (very well I might add), and after a leisurely and filling lunch we headed back to the apartment. Ds3 went down for a short nap, and everyone else played Wii.

Yes, that's right Wii.... what else do you bring to the frigid north to entertain the family? lol! Actually, we did bring it in case we were stuck inside for a long period, and the boys were bored. We actually first broke it out on Friday night when some friends and fellow adoptive parents came over with their daughters. It was fun to actually spend time with another adoptive family, and share cookies and hot cocoa and meet our new children. I have photos of that on our video camera, that Chris took, but I don't have the upload cable for it. Here are a few from the Hard Rock Cafe.

Today we were up bright and early for a tour of the Kremlin. Let me preface this by saying for field trips at home, I usually check to see if any large school groups will be visiting our destination, as we like to have the place to ourselves. So, my homeschool friends will so appreciate the humor in this... of all days to go to the Kremlin, we chose the day that was a special day for hundreds and hundreds of school children from all over the surrounding area. Apparently they have this celebration once a year where they are allowed to go to some kind of party at the palace. So, the lines on a cold December morning were so long... and full of groups of school children. lol! I hate large crowds anyway, but this was way worse! lol! Thankfully they all went to a different part of the Kremlin and we went on our regular tour. But I found the irony of it all very humorous.....

It was amazing to be inside the Kremlin and see all that we saw! Ds3 did awesome once again! He is just way flexible and such a happy baby. He was content in the stroller or walking with his hand in mine. He loved to walk with his brothers or Chris as well. I can't tell you what a J-O-Y he has been! The ladies who were kind of ushers at the Kremlin just loved him. :-) I think we all had as much fun just walking around with him, as we did looking at all the interesting artifacts of the Kremlin. Ds2 and Chris liked the displays of old armor the best, and ds1 liked the old ornate carriages. I personally loved the old historic dresses of the Tsarina's at their coronation. One in particular had a waist of like 14 inches... it was so tiny. It was for one Tzarina at her coronation when she was quite young. The next dress was a bit larger, and I jokingly asked our guide if this was her dress after 10 years of marriage.... lol! (It was actually another Tzarina's).

We also visited the Diamond Fund, and that was pretty amazing as well... to see all the beautiful jewels and jewelry of the Tsars and the crowns as well. Stunning, absolutely stunning. It was also a favorite of ds2. The Diamond Fund is where ds3 got a little cranky, mainly because it is dimly lit I think. So, we walked through quickly and exited, while Chris and the boys had a more thorough look. We finished our tour walking around the Kremlin premises and the cathedral square too. We even went into the Assumption Cathedral. It was very ornate with many many frescoes on the walls, and columns. It was very interesting hearing the history and traditions of the Eastern Orthodox church, yet so hard to comprehend for this simple saved by Grace girl.

Our sweet tour guide was so interested in our adoption and surprised that we have had ds3 for such a short time. She couldn't believe it! She had many questions as to why we wanted to adopt etc etc . I think the whole thing was foreign, and yet eye opening to her at the same time. She was young and extremely educated and her English was very good. I hope we displayed a very positive image of adoptive families in the U.S. I know several people just came up to us and smiled, or squeezed ds3's foot or hand. He was our own precious gem!

We left our tour guide with hugs and a big thank you, and headed back to our home away from home. Once there we quickly had a late lunch and put ds3 down for a nap. We'll be staying in for the rest of the evening now... as it's supposed to get quite cold tonight. I'll leave you with a few photos of our visit to the Kremlin. None of the inside, as we could not take pictures...

Whew! We have a toddler folks!

I've forgotten what it's like to have a toddler around the house again. Thank goodness I have the boys to help out! They are great at entertaining him for a few moments while I make breakfast... etc.

So much to write about I don't know where to begin. First, if she's reading. a big ol' thanks to Becky! (I know you've been swamped at work and with Christmas). I just went back to read your blog from your time in Russia, and it was encouraging to read that you struggled with much of the same stuff. I'm sure many others posted about this too, but I hit her blog first. :-)

Boy o' Boy is our little guy a toddler! He can be happy as a clam and then soooo not happy in the span of a moment. When he doesn't get his way.... look out. The tears will come and the frown. My older guys are getting used to it, but it's taken a bit. They don't recall having been that way themselves, naturally! One thing he loves to do is put on mama slippers and walk around the apartment. I've been working on him saying "Mama", but it isn't coming yet. Though today he said it, just not to me. He thought it would be grand to be picked up in my lap and yell out the window (it was closed) as loud as he could "MAMA!". lol! I kept saying Mama isn't out there... she's right here. But that didn't seem to matter. He just giggled the whole time thinking it was the funniest thing. Funny for him maybe! LOL!

Food
He loves milk, loves bread.... and loves any sweet fruit. Right now his favorite food is breakfast, and he chows that down without a problem. So much so, that I think he is not as interested in lunch. I haven't found a lunch or dinner that he particularly cares for, other than the Gerber graduates microwaveable dinner...but I am rationing those as I only brought 4 with me. We've tried a Gerber graduates type of baby food to mixed reviews. we've tried cheese, totally dislikes it. We've tried plain pasta (not very interested). So, tonight we might try some pizza. (I'll be sure to bring along lots of cheerios and snacks) I can see that yogurt shakes with veggies snuck in there will be the way I get his nutrients in at home. I had to do that with my boys at this age too.

Sleep/Nap
Getting this little one down is the hardest part of the day. He just doesn't want to sleep, because he might be missing something. i literally have to lay down with him. I feel so bad as he self soothes himself by sucking on his finger. I know this is typical of orphanage behavior, similar to rocking. The one thing that is helping is laying next to him or rubbing his back if he will let me put him in the crib.... and then singing to him. My song of choice is edelweiss from the Sound of Music. Works like a charm. I wish I had it on video, because it reminds me of the scene in Mary Poppins with her singing to the two children. Hmmm, I may have to try that song next. However, once he is down, he sleeps so well. About 9-10 hours straight through the night. That helps all of us and everyone wakes up happy!

Meltdowns
They typically come when he doesn't get his way. We have not ventured out of the apartment yet, so we are keeping him from being over stimulated. We'll see how he does in the next couple of days as we venture out. His meltdowns typically occur at bedtime and naptime. He listens pretty well for the most part. Right now he is in his crib, and is actually not crying! He napped for only 45 minutes and I think he is still tired. The fact that he is in his crib and is okay with that is definitely progress.

Bathtime
Oh the boy just loves his little bath! I introduced him to cups and he just loved to stay in there picking up water and dumping it out. He would splash and mimic washing himself like mama washed him. He could have stayed in there all night, except that his little lips would have turned blue! I warmed him right up though! I know he is looking forward to his next bath, and I am too just for the tactile stimulation alone. It's something he has probably never done (play in a bath with water) and so everything is a learning and developmental experience.

Baby stuff
For the most part when he finds something small on the floor he brings it to me. Paper, string, whatever. I was just thinking today that I don't have to worry about him putting things in his mouth, and then he proved me wrong. He tried to eat/taste the smallest maestraka doll. The whole thing went in his mouth and I caught it. Thankfully! That was the end of the Maestraka dolls, and they got put up out of the way....I guess if he wants to play with them (and they are great for sizing etc) we'll take the littlest one out.

I'll leave you with a photo of our little guy sound asleep. He looks so peaceful...you wouldn't believe the tears that preceded this photo! lol!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! It seems that in Russia, Christmas is like any other day. At 7am we had a visit from the Doctor of the International Clinic. More paperwork to be filled out, and today a meeting somewhere for Chris with even more paperwork.

We did manage to celebrate Christmas as a family after the doctor left. Ds3 ate his breakfast sooo well of two eggs and then some, 2 pieces of bread and a 1/2 a banana. Lots of milk too! Then after some coffee for mom and dad, we all ended up in the living room to open presents. Ds3 really had no idea what was going on ...... I'm sure he has never really opened presents before. One of his presents, was a little See and Say that sings old MacDonald and has all kinds of farm animals and their sounds.

Here are some photos of our small tree that I packed for the occasion with all our presents on the kitchen table. We lit the tree last evening after all the kids were asleep, and I smelled a burning smoke smell. I think the voltage on our adapter might have been too strong, or something because I unplugged the tree right away. The lights were incredibly hot! We lit it again for 5 seconds this morning, just so everyone could see the tree lit up. Oh well.... who knew? It was still nice to have a Christmas tree!



This is a photo of Chris and all his boys in their new hockey jerseys. (his presents to himself and all his boys!) As you can see ds3 was not up for pictures! More like, "why am I in this incredibly oversized hockey jersey?"

Gotcha!

(Edit to add: I typed this early this morning, but have not had time to actually post it until now! Oh well!)

He finally sleeps! And in his own crib too! I’m the only one awake at 2:42am, par for the course for me here with the time difference. It seems that unless I have a little help with my Dr. prescribed medicine, I am destined to wake up at this hour. Thankfully all goes back to normal when we return home!

Not that you were wanting to hear any of that…. Let me tell you about our Gotcha Day. The evening before we completely moved all of our stuff to our new apartment… (and you saw how much we had in the airport). It was way past 9pm when we finally had it all moved. The boys were exhausted and they went right to bed, and slept like rocks! We on the other hand had to prepare all our gifts and get our donations ready for the orphanage. I had been awake since 2am the night before, so I too was exhausted. After repacking and unpacking all our luggage and moving from one apartment to another, and wrapping and sorting and packing gifts and donations into our suitcases… we were finally ready to go to bed. (This is where all my southern friends would thow in a “Bless your Heart.” And it did need blessed by that point! Lol! Of course the biggest blessing would arrive the next day.

We awoke on Gotcha Day and prepared to head to the orphanage. Our last trip. I was tearing up in the car just thinking about this day. We arrived at the orphanage suitcases in tow. We waited again in a room for them to bring ds3 to us. When they did he just cried… he wanted nothing to do with us. My boys were a little stunned, as I am sure they had played out a much different scenario in their minds of meeting their brother for the first time. We managed to get his new clothing on, and his snowsuit (newly purchased in Russia since it has been so cold!) They did check by the way to make sure we had a snowsuit of some type, so I am glad we bought it! As I did that, Chris and our driver transferred all the clothing and shoes to a separate container. The social worker was sooo surprised at the amount of stuff we brought! She was touched.

We walked down the stairs and out of the orphanage and he did not cry at all. He slept in my arms a little bit on the drive back to our new improved apartment, and he smiled a bit at ds1 acted silly with his cap on his head. Once back at the apartment Chris ran all kinds of errands to the store to get some food, etc. We fed him cheerios, a jar of baby bananas, cereal, bread and a little formula and some arrowroot cookies. Not our best fare, but he ate it all like a champ. He walked all around the apartment and the boys entertained him sooo well! They stacked cups for him to knock down, they helped him with the connecting rings, and they just talked to him a LOT! At one point in the afternoon he gave each of us a huge hug…. So sweet!

For dinner Chris was tied up doing our final paperwork, so me being the superb cook that I am, grabbed a Gerber graduate (microwavable of course) of turkey, rice, carrots and green beans. He LOVED it, except for the green beans. We started with an appetizer of cheerios, and then moved to the main course, and had some more bread with it, and water. We naturally finished with the cookies and when Chris got home with the milk, he had some more cookies and milk. Yum! Having lived in an orphanage he eats so much and really stuffs his food, I think because he wants to make sure he gets it. So, I’m giving it to him in bits and pieces or he would shove a whole slice of Italian bread in his mouth at once.

Finally around 9pm, he fell asleep. Poor little guy actually fell asleep standing in his crib leaning on the soft rail! I peeked in and whisked him right into our bed which is where he stayed until I just woke up. He got a bit restless and so I scooped him back up and put him in the crib. He woke a few minutes later, and started to cry, but when I got out of bed and assured him we were right there, He lay back down and fell right asleep. Sweetie! He’s used to having people around all the time, so I’m sure this was a huge change for him. Overall he is doing great! Now we just need him to get used to Chris. He’s still very leary of him, and he’s been away for the day too doing paperwork etc. Hopefully tomorrow they will get more of a chance to bond, because I know Chris is soooo ready!

And THAT was our Gotcha Day, pretty smooth really. As true to our blog, I will not be sharing the names of our kiddos, but I will share a few pictures of our little man! These are from trip One, as I do not have the photos from this trip uploaded yet.

Apartment

I'm not even going to go into detail now about the how's.....but we did end up changing apartments... and this is sooo much better! No smell in the wall! And heat!! Yay! Plus there is so much more room for everyone.

I don't have a lot of time to post at the moment because our little guy is with us! And he is not sleeping! Like at all..... He completely skipped his 3 hour nap today and will not sleep this evening. So, I'm off to help and probably will fall asleep myself. Tomorrow I will post about our day today and give you details....

Sorry this is so short! It's been a busy day....

We are here!!!

After a plane ride that seemed fairly quick, we arrived an hour early into Russia. Now has that ever happened to anyone? A plane that is actually early? I have no idea why that was the case, but it was good for us... Making the plane was an adventure! Stressful! It was my fault too, as we left late... and it rained the entire drive to the airport! We got in at 3pm and our flight left an hour and 1/2 later. Thank goodness this one airline rep took great kindness upon us and the boys and we made it through check in and all our bags arrived in Russia as well!! We are so thankful for her! We made it within 10 minutes of boarding..... and that was that!

The boys did great on the plane, but are definitely jet lagged. It's funny but they took different avenues to show that jet lag. One was super tired, and one was hyper. We ate at a pizza place for dinner, and went to the grocery store afterward. They are amazed at how we must walk everywhere. One asked if we could get our driver to pick us up after dinner and take us to the grocery store. Ahhh the convenience of a car in the US.... they will appreciate it when they get back. My more extroverted of the two (ds2) said he couldn't wait to get back to the US. When I asked him why, he said, "So I can talk to people again, I don't understand what anyone is saying!" lol!

My ds1 naturally made a friend on the airplane. They shared game boys and he talked his ear off. I think everyone in our general vicinity knew of our adoption, what he likes and dislikes about planes, and his love of roller coasters. And that was the less extroverted of my two! I'm sure there was much more, but I fell asleep. :-)

Onto our apartment... it isn't nearly as nice as our last one... I'm definitely not as thrilled. It's older than all the rest and it's freezing. Typically we are roasting inside, but this apartment is very drafty or the heat is not as strong. Plus the heat in our kitchen isn't working at all. Not good.... So, I'm hoping all this gets rectified tomorrow when the work week begins. They did bring a portable heater to help in the bedroom...and some extra blankets. If anyone needs help with apartments when you get ready to travel, I can definitely tell you what to look for and what to avoid.

Which leads me to my next topic... the cold! Oh my goodness it is FREEZING HERE! I am truly adjusted to the south now, as even the winters we lived in NY did not feel this cold. (And we had two 15 inch snowfalls that year.) Today's high...when daylight actually breaks will be 19 degrees. I don't even want to venture outside in that! But I can't say our apartment is warm and toasty either! Pray the apartment can at least warm up.... (the outside, I'm not so sure about.) But, it's supposed to snow here mid week! Yay! It will be nice to have snow on Christmas Eve again. I think tomorrow we will try to get all our grocery shopping done, so we don't have to venture out if it's too cold!

Here are some photos of the airport and all our luggage.

If the shoes fits....

On our last day visiting the orphanage this past trip, I was speaking to one of our coordinators and he mentioned that the orphanage needed shoes. We already had clothing to donate, but no shoes. So, the Monday I got home I emailed my homeschool group, my Sunday school class and my friend Stephanie, who goes to my church, and who I knew had many friends with toddlers.

In the email I asked if anyone would be willing to donate toddler shoes as the orphanage needed them, and Chris and I would carry them over. I was hoping to collect 10 pair to bring over with us. Well, in just two days we had almost 30 pr. of shoes collected! I can't imagine what we would have collected if I actually had time to tell the children's ministry at our church! We would have needed a whole 'nother suitcase! Several ladies from the area, donated shoes to me. (Thanks Stacy, Pam, and Stephanie.) Plus Stephanie's friend Jennie in South Carolina told her bible study and they mailed 20 pair to me! I was just amazed at how God brought this together in such a short time, and filled a need way above all my expectations!!

Here's a photo of my suitcase of shoes minus about 4 pair..... I had to stack some of them in double layers.... just to squeeze them in! Underneath all those shoes is a suitcase full of new and gently used clothing we have been collecting. I hope we are able to bless their socks off! (Or shoes....lol!)

Keeping It Real....

I'm going to post something that I don't think a lot of people realize, and I know it isn't talked about too much in adoption circles.... but I'm gonna be pretty transparent here.

So many people have emailed or called and talked about the packing and stress of it, and have always mentioned the excitement that goes along with it. I have to admit, I'm not the type of person that gets excited a whole lot before a trip. Maybe it's my worrisome nature, but with SO many things to think about, the thought of having this adoption finally come to fruition is not even on the forefront of my mind. All the details are....

Aside from that personality quirk, it's not exactly excitement I'm feeling... (though I may get there on the plane).... quite truthfully I'm scared. Yes, scared is definitely the emotion I can most readily relate to right now. This little guy is going to be coming with us, and I want to smother him with love and hugs and kisses and comfort. But I have some many unknowns.... will he bond with us? Will he attach? Will he even accept all those hugs and kisses? What will he be like when we first have him in our custody at the apartment? Will we be able to communicate? Will he pick up language pretty quickly? Will he bond to our boys? Will he eat and drink alright? Will he do okay in a stroller? Will he sit alright in the car seat on the plane? Will I be able to comfort him as he wonders about the scary long plane ride we are on? (I'll certainly be trying!!) Plus so many other unknowns....

I'm sure this stuff is pretty normal, and I remember going to the hospital to deliver my first child and being pretty scared of the unknown too. Particularly the pain of childbirth.... It was a few months afterward that I realized that while childbirth is really hard work.... the hardest (and most rewarding) work is actually in the trenches raising your children. I was asked to speak that Mother's day in my church from the perspective of a new mother. What I shared was there were so many women more capable than I to speak on the subject of motherhood....many who had been in the trenches for years and were clearly role models to me. I recognized like I said, that the act of giving birth and the 9 months leading up to that were difficult, the mettle testing and growing comes in caring for that child. Learning to put aside sleep for those frequent night waking to feed or for comfort. Learning to carry that child on your back during the 5 o'clock melt down so you could actually cook a dinner. Learning to be consistent when your child buckles his legs and goes limp on you because he doesn't want to hold your hand across the street. Learning to stick to what you say, when you have to leave a favorite playground because your child will not be obedient. Even though it would be soooo much easier to give in just so you can have a 1/2 hour to actually talk to an adult!

All those things are good and hard, and things I have learned along the journey. But they haven't come alone. Mixed liberally in there, have been a plethora of love moments, full of joy and hugs and kisses and snuggles and memories! As I look back, I can see how motherhood has shaped me and grown me as a person. But as I head to the "hospital" to deliver this 2 year old baby, the doubts kick in.... and I wonder about all the unknowns.....

It's times like these that I need to lean on God's wisdom and strength. Two verses that I have been clinging to this week are: "I can do all things with Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 NIV and "For God has not given you a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind." 2Timothy 1:7 KJV

All the unknowns will soon be "known"..... and then there will be more unknowns... because life is always full of them. I guess it's all in how you choose to handle them, because for me.... God always seems to grow me during times like these. And I'm always grateful (after the fact). :-)

Hopefully on the mend....

When I was in Russia recently, the last day there I started feeling ill. As in nausea, loss of appetite and several other symptoms. I seriously considered the possibility of being pregnant.... for a few moments.... and then quickly discarded that thought. (And no I am not pregnant, for anyone wondering.) :-)

But I did have a bladder infection. Thank goodness I brought some leftover antibiotics with me or it would have been worse! That helped me having two days worth, and I was even more glad to be heading back to the States to see my doctor! After a visit to the doc, and an allergic reaction to an antibiotic.... I am now on a new antibiotic and hopefully on the mend. But let me tell you that the past two days stunk! That and the jet lag seriously threw me for a loop. I'm surprised I have been able to pack a thing! But somehow I've managed....

I still have about three more suitcases to pack and many more things to organize. I'm hoping that I feel a little better each day so I can accomplish it all. Good news is my new coat came in from Land's End and a hat too. Just in time as the temps in Moscow have dropped into the 20's as a high during the day! This coat should keep me nice and warm while we are there!

I am also working on setting up some tours while in Moscow. This is an educational trip for all involved as well.... and who knows when my boys will be able to see this again. So, we will be visiting the Kremlin and Armory and Diamond Fund, and well as hopefully a guided walking tour of the metro system. We are also trying to get to the circus before we pick up our little guy. So, all those things... I'm working on as well as packing packing and more packing!! I have 3 suitcases done, and 3 more to go!

Oh the baby days!....It's been a while....

This evening I've been perusing all kinds of baby websites. I've been looking at baby gates, and safety features for our stairs and cabinets. I've been checking out bowls and spoons, bibs and bottles. Which led me to ponder what I was actually going to feed our son while in Russia. I mean he's not exactly like us... we can't order him a Big mac and chicken nuggets, or even the chicken fajitas at the Hard Rock (my own personal favorite!)

His current orphanage diet is very very bland. And he is not to have sweets, based on the doctors that we spoke to. The poor guy has some eczema issues, and the sweets bring it out.... so no sweet goodies or junk. As a matter of fact, I kind of want to keep his diet bland until we get back to the States and our pediatrician and I can slowly monitor the foods we introduce and his reaction to them. (Skin allergy wise).

Then I thought, this guy is so small for his age.....he's just over 2 years. Maybe I should give him some formula too??? It certainly would give him the nutrients he needs even once a day. Plus the bottle feeding once a day might help with bonding. (though he likes to be very independent) He usually has some type of mashed meat with rice and soup for dinner and lunch. (no soup at dinner only lunch), and cabbage or cucumbers. SO, I have no clue what I might do. I'm thinking:

• cheerios or puffed rice (hardly any sugar in those),
• yogurt (he has that for breakfast sometimes.
• Cream of wheat
• baby cereal.
• rice with chicken
• rice with noodles
• banana mashed a bit
• Gerber graduates?
• biscuit type cookie (he had this as a snack when we visited the orphanage)

I also realized today as I was going through my clothing list that I have no socks for him. Um.... funny, but it's 28 degrees as a high in Russia... I think he's gonna need some socks! lol! It's the little things I'm forgetting!

Hopefully tomorrow I can pull the rest of it together... It's hard to figure out so much of this beforehand. I know we'll have lots of time to bond and figure out his likes and dislikes. But I like to be prepared with ideas and options while we are out of the country! Once we are home, I have the luxury of a car and shops close by to get whatever we need. So, if anyone has ideas for me on things to feed this little guy while we are in Russia, please let me know!

Jet Lagged!

I am under some serious jet lag.... but wanted to let everyone know we had court and it went well! We have been officially declared the parents of our little guy! Yay!!!

We flew home not even 2 days later and will return after the 10 day waiting period. So, needless to say I still feel like I'm on a plane... (equilibrium wise) and I am t-i-r-e-d!! So much to do to pack for our next trip.... but it's our last one so I am glad for that!!

No pictures of court... we were not allowed to bring a camera into the courthouse....then afterward we were sort of rushing to get to the orphanage to pick up our little one and get his passport photo taken. I'm kicking myself for that one! But hopefully we'll be able to post many more in the coming weeks. One photo for sure will be of his room. Even if it's not finished (wall art etc), you can get the general idea.

Okay, I'm off to bed before I fall asleep sitting up on the couch!

Christmas Letter- MaryBeth Chapman

Please click the link below to read this Christmas letter written by Marybeth Chapman. So beautifully written from a mother's heart.

Christmas Letter

Christmas Lights...

I know I said in an earlier post that Chris and I were not doing anything at all decorating-wise for Christmas. Well, hmmmm that was before I saw all the pretty lights on our street. So, on Saturday night after we accomplished so much, I asked him if he would mind putting up the Christmas lights on Sunday. I think he also realized that the boys were really missing the holiday decorations that are usually found around our house. So, he agreed to put them up on Sunday afternoon.

He as usual did a great job and I had nothing but praise for his hard work and effort.... and then on Monday... well he took it a step further. Now ya gotta know me... I'm a white lights kind of a girl. Nothing too outlandish, and definitely less is more, if you know what I mean. So, I was none to thrilled to come home on Monday evening from the grocery store to find snow flakes now hanging from our trees and a polar bear (head bobbing included) peeking out from between my dormant cottage roses. I believe my exact words to myself as I pulled up the street were, "Oh NO he did not.... No, no no.... oh my word no."

But alas, yes he did. And suffice it to say, it was all for the boys. (And maybe a little bit for my husband too who looked gleefully from my face to the bobbing polar bear, pleased as punch with his new mechanical decoration.) Sigh. What's a girl to do? I'm completely out numbered. But I have to draw the line at multi-colored lights. And only one polar bear, no more! No after Christmas sale items coming into my yard. None! I'm digging my heels in here. (Can you see me????)

So here is a photo of the new lighted scene at our house. The picture is definitely not the greatest because my camera takes the absolute worst night shots. I was researching this after the fact, when several of my night shots in Russia came out horribly too. So anyhoo... here it is.

A List Kind of a Day....

Chris and I had a very long list of things to accomplish today. Thankfully all sports are on hiatus until after the New Year (except for one basketball practice). Yay! That is a good thing!

We accomplished sooo much! Here is what we got done, though I must admit there is still a lot of get accomplished.....

1. Print Packing List for court
2. Fill out one piece of paperwork a day
3. Paint Toybox
4. Finish Painting new shelves that Chris built
5. Buy and install special baby proof outlet covers
6. Buy corner guards for the 4 sharp corners
7. Move all older boys small toys to new game room
8. Finish Baby proofing and cleaning up playroom
9. Steam clean little guys new room
10. Clean out garage
11. Put all laundry away
12. Find some of the pre-packaged foods for packing
13. Update all AWANA records for church
14. Hang pocket fabric hanging over changing table
15. Correct several Sparks record sheets that were wrong
16. Mail Christmas gifts
17. Find warm gloves, accessories for boys
18. Prepare lesson plans/schoolwork for coming week
19. Baby proof all cabinets with Totlock system
20. Baby proof stairs with gates and plexiglass
21. Sam's club shopping
22. Find snowsuit for little one

I'm now sitting here in our new play room.... we bought a new light from Target for the corner comfy chair... where I anticipate lots of reading will be going on. I love this room now, and I can really envision it being the new family hang out. Game room on one side (closed off by a wall, and play area on this side. (With wireless internet access and a big comfy couch for Chris to watch sports on cable. Yep, the downstairs living room is sure gonna miss us... :-)

A smile in my heart!

This dear woman left a comment on our blog concerning our little guy in Russia. I am so glad that she tracked me down, as it really encouraged me today! Read on:

My husband and I are on trip one. Without sounding creepy, there are a number of adoption blogs I've been following to get a sense of the process and other peoples' experiences. Yours is obviously one of them.

During a visit with our little boy yesterday afternoon, we ventured into his group room to watch him play with the other children. While there, I spied a cute little boy holding onto his photo album and recognized your photo on the cover from "one of those blogs I read!" It has taken me a moment to track you down, but I'm glad I have and wanted to share a quick note with you.

Your little guy is sweet, was smiling and holding tight to the cloth photo album. Our boy tried to get him to share the album but your little guy pulled back and you could feel him saying, "No way! This is MINE! Get your own!!" My husband and I giggled because we had showed our little boy his album earlier and he loved it. He caressed it and kissed it and held it tightly to his little chest, as if he was thinking, "I'm finally getting my own little book. This means I'm going to be free soon." We were touched. The children all seem to be cared for considering the resource limitations the orphanage and caregivers have to deal with.

I hope this update finds you well and lends a little comfort to you through the wait. Best wishes to you!

The Christmas List

My friend Jeannie posted this on her website and I thought it would be fun to play along. Hmmm... like I have all the time in the world to play around on the computer... NOT! But I'm procrastinating! lol!

1. Real tree or artificial? Both. We always get a real tree for our living room, but we now have 3 artificial trees that we put around the house as well.... This year though none of them will be going up.... :-)

2. When do you put up the tree? Whenever t he mood hits. Sometime after Thanksgiving. We used to put it up Thanksgiving weekend... now it just depends on our busy schedules.

3. When do you take down the tree? Depends on when we put it up. If it's early we will take it down after New Year's, and if we get the tree up late, we will take it down late.

4.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, pretty much.

6. Who is the hardest person to buy for? My father.

7. Easiest person to buy for? Probably my husband... there is so much we need that we never purchase, so Christmas is pretty easy.

8. Angel on top of the tree, or star? Both. One tree gets an old fashioned angel, one gets a golden star and one gets a big bow. We have another small tree, and that one gets nothing.... yet.

9. What is the worst Christmas gift you ever got? A cat pin. It was a cat playing a saxophone with sunglasses and covered in rhinestones. Chris bought it for me when we were first married, and it was awful. It's a joke now... and each year he has gotten me some heinous cat pin or another. lol! (Sorry to my good friends' who are cat lover's) Kelly!

.10. What is the best gift you received as a child? I honestly can't remember.

11. What is your favorite food to eat at Christmas time? Without a doubt it's the Christmas cookies. They are only made once a year and so they are pretty special.

12. What do you want for Christmas this year? Our adoption to be finalized, and that we would be together as a family of 5.

That was fun... I won't tag anyone... but play along if you would like!!

The Baby's Room

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family, cooked lots of food, but also exercised a lot of it off walking/running and playing football. All of our company has headed home now, and Chris and I are accomplishing quite a bit today... getting things together for the baby's room. While he isn't really a baby really... ( more of a young toddler)... .but he's a baby to us. :-) He's still in a crib, so we've been cleaning out and finally putting things together.

I think this is really cool how all the furniture came together. The crib I found back in 2005 at a yard sale in Pennsylvania. I paid $20 for it, and gave it to my sister when she was expecting her 4th child. When her little one outgrew the crib, my sister Lisa asked if I wanted her to save it for me. I said, "Nope"...but she saved it anyway. I'm so glad she did!!

Then friend's of ours from church gave us a bunch of toddler toys and clothing and they had a changing table to donate. The very same finish as the crib! They look like they are a set. Then we went to the attic to pull down some bins to store clothes, and low and behold was my glider rocker (the only thing that didn't sell when I got rid of my baby furniture years ago). Guess what? It's the same finish as well! I know many folks really aren't into all of that.... but I am, and I am so thankful for the way all of those pieces came together in our little one's room. We'll be hanging curtains and have been washing our sons' old bedding to put on the crib. It's got some plaid and chambray in it, and believe it or not, I still like it... :-) I even found the diaper stacker. lol!

So, that's what we have been working on all day. Plus, Chris is planning on building shelves in the game room area, so we can baby proof the play room. We need to purchase gates, and quite a few of them!

Chris asked me what we were putting up for Christmas and I told him "Nothing". He was like... "Seriously? Nothing?" "Yep", I answered... "absolutely nothing, but a wreath on the front door". He seemed happy with that, and I'm glad we aren't going to kill ourselves trying to decorate with everything else going on!

Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one!
(I'll post pictures once the room is just about done, maybe by tomorrow)

Jackie